Method of constructing foundations.



J. P. OROURKE. METED 0F CONSTRUTING FOUNDATIONS.

APPLICATION FILED ooT.1o, 1907.

932,71 7. Patented Aug. 31, 1909.

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VJOI-IN F. OROURKE, 0F NEW YORK, N. Y.

METHOD 0F CONSTIRCTING- FOUNDATIONS.

Specification of Letters Patent.. l Patented Allg. 31, 1909.

Applicationled October 10, 1907. Serial No. 396,729.

To all whom tt may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN F. OROURKE, a citizen of the United States, and resident of New York city, borough of Manhattan, in the county of New York and State of New York, haveinveiited certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Constructing Foundations, of which the following is a specification.

1n constructing foundations below the earths surface upon which piers, columns, and the like are to be erected for buildings and other structures, it sometimes occurs that the earth into which the excavation is made is of such soft, spongy or watery character, before hard bottom or `bed rock" is reached, as to fall or flow into the excava# tion, and the difficulty experienced in such class of work, and -to which my invention pertains, is whererthe spongy, soft or watery earth is niet after the excavation has been carried down below the surface for a considerable distance through relatively firm ground, whereby such earth is liablev to fall or iow into the excavation asv it 'proceeds and endanger the falling or flowing of the adjacent ground into the excavation, to the great danger of surrounding structuresl and to the completion of the work.v o

The object of mywinvention is to permit safe and economical digging'of an'excava tion into or through such relatively soft or spongy or water bearing earth down to hard bottom or bed rock, and the forming of a foundation upon -suchbottom or bed rock within such soft or spongy earth,- in such manner that the latter may be held back while the excavation and building of the foundation proceed.

In carrying out my invention I first make a suitable excavation in the ground to or into soft, spongy or watery earth which may be of such character as to fall or flow into i the excavation and prevent the further safe upper part of foundation, and I then force compressed air into the excavation below such plug or part of foundation, and continne the excavation down through the soft or spongy earth below the plug, carrying the material out through the air shaft, which plug retains such compressed air in the chamber or excavation below, whereby the wet, soft or spongy earth at lthe sides of the excavation may be held back until hard bottom orbed rock is reached, and if. neces sary breast braces or sheathing are placed along the walls of the soft or spongy .earth in such chamber. After the. excavation is caried down to the required depth through such earth said excavationbelow said plug is filled with foundation material, such as concrete, up to the bottom of the plug, or approximately to thebottom of the plug, and joined to the plug by a .binder such as grout underV pressure, the compressed air causing the grout to flow into the spaces and crevices between the plug and foundation material below. The air shaft may then be removed from the plug, and concrete is filled, if desired, in the bore left in the plug or in the airv shaft, if the latteris not removed, and inthe pipes and uponthe plug to the desiredl height, whereby a solid foundation through the excavation t0 hard bottom or bedl rock is jproduced, and upon which piers, columns and the like may be erected in any desired manner, either hollow or solid. Thus,.I am enabled tocarry on ,the work under the plug by plenum pneumatic pressure, and the plug that is used in carrying on the work becomes part of the completed' foundation.

In the accompanying drawings `I have illustrated various stepsutilized in carrying out my invention, wherein, t

Figure 1 is a -vertical sectional view illustrating the procedure preparatory to placing the concrete plug in the excavation; Fig. 2 is a similar view illustrati-ng the excavation with the concrete plug, air shaft and pipe in place preparatory to continuing the work below the same, Fig. 3 is a cross section on the line 3, 3, in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 isa vertical section showing the further step of building the foundation beneath ,the concrete plug, andFig. 5 is a similar view illustrating the complete foundation ready to receive a pier, column, or the like to be erected thereon, when the foundation is filled solid..

In carrying out the invention asuitable excavation, illustrated at 1, is dug'in the ground toor into soft, spongy or wateryV earth, at 2, which would be liable to fall or fiow into the excavation if. the latter -be carried below to therequired depth, and which is also liable to permit the adjacentground to fall or flow into the excavation, and meau- A, or watery earth 2 and filling foundation material, such as concrete, preferably of a somewhat thin consistency, into the excavation upon the arch or temporary support to a desired depth. To permit further work to be carried on belowplug 5 I place a section 7 of an air shaft within the excavation with its lower end resting upon or passing through the arch, land pipes 8, 8a, rest upon or pass through the arch or temporary support, said shaft section Vand pipes preferably being placed in position before the foundation material or concrete plug 5 is filled in t see Fig. l), whereby the plug will adhere closely to Vsaid shaft section and pipes. After the plug has hardened the arch or temporary support is removed, and the required upper shaft sections are applied with the usual air lock 7a. The'part of the excavation, as at la, below said plug and air shaft forms an air chamber in which further digging of the q excavation may proceed, while access to such chamber and carrying out of the excavated material from below the plug, may be had throughyair shaft 7 and its lock 7 a in well known mannerthe plug 5 forming a seal for the top of said air chamber.

Air under pressure in chamber 1l is maintained through pipe 8 to hold back the soft, spongy or wateryearthat the walls thereof,

Vbut if this air pressure is not found sufficient Vfor the purpose breastl braces O1" sheathing, illustrated at 9, may be placed alongthe walls of chamber 1a as required. When the excavationV below plug V5 has been carried down to the required depth, as to hard bon tom or bed rock 10, and the latter has been smoothed or finished as required, foundation materiahsuclr as Aconcrete 11 Vfor the foundation, is Ybuilt upwardly. upon. said bottom orrock until it meets and adjoins plug 5,or nearly so, thisl work also being carried on under pressure. A suitable binder, such asgrout or thin cement, is then poured intothe air shaft toV fill the spaces and crevices, at 12, between the bottom of plug 5 and the top of the portionll ofthe foundation, to unite such parts in a' solid yand crevices.

mass, under pressure, and the air pressure may be increasedif desired, to force the grout or cement thoroughly into said spaces The air shaft may then be removed and concrete or foundation material is then filled into the bore in plug 5, to rest upon foundation 11, or one or more sections of the air shaft may be left in position, such as the section in the plug, and filled with the foundation material. The foundation material or concrete is also filled in excavation 1 upon and above plug 5, as at 13, to any desired height, as shown in Fig. 5, upon which piers, columns and the like may be erected for buildings and other structures. The foundation 11 built up from below to engage plug 5 and the foundation portion 13 Vfilled into and upon said plug, all united in a solid mass as described, preduce a foundation resting upon hard bottom or bed rock which will be safe and durable for the purpose intended.

By my method I amenabled to utilize plenum pneumatic pressure for working below the plug whereby I gain the advantages of such pressure for holding back the earth and setting the foundation. Furthermore, by meansof my invention the construction of foundations through soft, spongy or watery earth may be readily and expeditiously carried on by reason of the fact that the vplug formed within the excavation retains the compressed air in the chamlmr below the plug, and also by reason of the .further advantage that said plug forms part of the completed foundation, because the lower foundation portion 11 built. up to said plug from below the plug forms a continuation thereof, and the plug remains in the excavation.

Having now described my invention what I claim is:

1. The method of constructing foundations consisting in producing an excavation, introducing a permanently fixed plug in said excavation, building a foundation in the cxcavation beneath the plug, and joining such foundation to the plug.

2. The method of constructing foundations consisting in producing an excavation, introducing a permanently fixed plug in said excavation, building a foundation in the excavation beneath the plug, and forcing a binder under pressure into the spaces be- Vtween the plug and the foundation below it.

3. The method of constructing foundations consisting in producing an excavation, forming a permanently fixed plug in the excavation, building a foundation under pressure beneath the plug, and forcing a binder under pressure into the spaces between the plug and the foundation.

1. The method of constructing foundations consisting in producing an excavation, introducing a permanently fixed plug in said excavation, building a. foundation in the excavation beneath the plug, joining such foundation to the plug, and superimposing foundation material upon said plug.

5. rlhe method of constructing foundations consisting in producing an excavation, forming a permanently fixed plug in the eX- cavation, maintaining pressure in the excavation below the plug and continuing the excavation downwardly, building a foundation under pressure in the excavation up- I wardly approximately to the plug, joining the foundation under pressure to the bottom of the plug, and superimposing foundation material upon the plug.

G. The method of constructing foundations consisting in producing an excavation, introducing a permanently fixed hollow plug in said excavation, continuing the excavation below said plug, building a foundation upon the bottom of the excavation and joining it to the bottom of the plug, and then filling the opening in such plug.

7. The method of constructing foundations consisting in introducing a permanently fixed portion 0f a foundation within an excavation, maintaining air yunder pressure in the excavation beneath said foundation portion, and continuing the foundation in the excavation under such air pressure.

8. The method of constructing foundations consisting in producing an excavation, introducing a permanently fixed portion of a foundation therein securely fitted substantially air-tight to the walls of t-he excavation, and building an additional foundation portion in the excavation beneath and joined to the first named foundation portion under compressed air pressure retained in the excavation by the first named foundation portion.

9. The method of constructing foundations consisting in producing an excavation,

inserting an air shaft therein, introducing a permanently fixed plug in said excavation in contact with the walls of the excavation and the air shaft, continuing the excavation below said plug and building up a foundation from the bottom of the excavation under air pressure in the excavation, joining said foundation to the plug, and filling the opening in the plug with foundation materia 10. The method of constructing foundations consisting in producing an excavation, shoring the walls thereof, placing an air shaft and air pipe in said excavation, filling the excavation with a plug above the lower end of the air shaft and pipe and in close contact therewith and with said shoring, continuing the excavation below the air shaft, building up a foundation to the plug under air pressure in the excavation, filling t-he openings in the plug with foundation material, and filling foundation material upon said plug in the upper part of the excavation.

l1. A foundation comprising a permanently fixed plug introduced above the bottom of an excavation, foundation material formed upon the bottom of the excavation below the plug and joined thereto, and foundation material located upon and supported by said plug.

12. A foundation having a permanently fixed portion secured to the walls of an excavation above its bot-tom and an additional portion below and joined to the bot-tom of the first named foundation portion.

Signed at New York city, in the county of New York, and State of New York, this 3rd day of October, A. D. 1907.

JOHN F. OROURKE.

Witnesses:

T. F. BOURNE, MARIE F. WAINRIGHT. 

